Darren Soens
Danielle North
SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (WPRI) - An admitted habitual traffic offender faces up to ten years in prison after pleading guilty to causing the crash that killed a local motorcyclist.

Laura Reale briefly wiped away a tear in Washington County Superior Court Friday, as she entered a guilty plea to a charge of driving to endanger, death resulting.

Prosecutors say Reale was driving in excess of 50 miles per hour when she ran a red light in Charlestown back in May, and struck and killed motorcyclist Colin Foote. It was her 20th traffic violation.

The judge promised that Reale will receive a substantial prison term when she is sentenced next month.

"I trust this judge to do what's fair and that's why we did what we did today," says Reale's attorney, Stephen Famiglietti.

Colin Foote's family is pushing for the maximum sentence.

"We hope and we pray and I hope that everyone that's been affected by this, and Colin's friends, pray with us that maximum justice will prevail," says the victim's father, Robin Foote.

The Foote family has been working tirelessly since their son's death to promote "Colin's Law," which revokes the driver's licenses of habitual traffic offenders. Just days ago, the family unveiled twenty billboards across the state which promote safe driving.

"I've just seen so many people on the roads run the red light, gun it, try to get by, and they have no concept of how dangerous that is and people's lives that they're putting at stake," says Robin Foote.

Laura Reale is scheduled to be sentenced December 17th.

Her driver's license has already been revoked for the five years, in connection with the deadly crash.

All,
Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to ColinsLaw.org. Any amount will help and be appreciated. Monies collected will go toward education and safety programs, which are sure to benefit not only Rhode Islanders, but us in CT as well. Think of it as an investment in the safety of our roads and the safety of your loved ones who may be driving on those roads.

See message below from Robin. I am writing an e-mail right now and will be sending it tonight. Please consider spending 10 minbutes to do the same. Thanks, Ross

Dear Friends of Colin Foote,

If you have not yet found the time to send a letter to Judge Edwin Gale to voice your opinion of the sentence that should be given to Laura Reale who killed Colin, this is the very last chance to do so. The Foote family and the Attorney General's office are asking for the maximum 10 year sentence to serve in state prison.

This can be done tonight by EMAIL. Letters or emails received after tomorrow will not be admitted.

This will be a very difficult Christmas for us without Colin. Please, therefore, take 10 minutes to send your opinion to the following:

The Email address is for the woman who is responsible for assembling all comments.

If you have already sent a written letter, thank you very much. If you have an electronic version, it would help if a copy was sent to the above email address just to make sure your opinion is received. A copy to me would also be greatly appreciated.

Judge Gale –– who said he’d received over 100 letters from people across the country urging him to give Reale the maximum 10 years — said he doesn’t believe that the fatal crash was an accident.

“It was a predictable loss of life by someone who in her pre-sentence report describes herself as totally irresponsible” and who has been “almost totally self-indulgent, passing through life in a drug-induced fog.”

For over 10 years, Gale said, Reale has been “self-consumed, lazy, without ambition, purpose, addicted” to marijuana and later, according to Soccio, to Vicodin, Percocet and OxyContin.

His reasoning for sentencing her to 8 years of confinement instead of 10 is below and has some merit;

The state’s prosecutor, Cindy Soccio, and members of Foote’s family had urged Gale to order Reale, 27, to serve the full 10 years — the maximum provided by state law — but the judge rebuffed their pleas, saying he wanted to make sure that once she was released there would be some constraints on her. She’ll have to report to a probation officer and practice good behavior for two years or she could wind up back in prison to finish the full 10-year sentence.

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